By Christopher David
Transparency is key! If you have noticed “Nothing” products at stores, I’m sure you’re definitely going to take it out of the shelf, maybe even buy it. That’s how exquisitely designed the gadgets are. Just like the Nothing Phone 1’s see-through back, the Ear 1’s transparent veneer, we have another device now from Nothing, the Ear (2) with transparent veneers and better looking than the Ear 1. Does it work? Yes, stunningly!
Nothing Ear 2 was launched in the UAE around March 2023 and if you happen to see it around, you will instantly like these earbuds. More elegant than Ear 1 and with more features added, lets see if this is a good buy.
Design – The Nothing Ear 2 is a well-designed, well-crafted device just like the Ear 1, looking somewhat similar but definitely better looking. These are ultra-light earbuds weighing just 4.5g and still giving you everything you need in wireless earbuds. The case is see-through of course which shouldn’t come as a surprise, it’s NOTHING written all over it. What catches your eye is the combination of colors with the white buds, transparent stem and the red dot which the ear 2 also sports. I have seen the Ear 1 black earbuds and I definitely feel the transparency comes out much better with the Ear 2. I have not seen a better-looking ear piece in recent times as compared to the Ear 2.
Personal Sound Profile – Whats new with Ear 2 is the personal hearing profile which you can set through the Nothing X app based on your individual liking. You would get to do an ear tip fit test for best output and based on an individual’s fit comfort. Make sure to update the firmware as there were new updates released recently for the fit test. It would tell you if you need to change the ear tip (choose from the pack from sizes small to large). The personal sound profile also lets you take a hearing test for personalized audio experience which adjusts sounds based on your liking. You can also select the way you want to hear your music with equalizer settings, I tried using the “more bass” setting and just loved the output. Try listening to any Metallica song on the buds and you are in for a treat. The Nothing X app offers a lot more settings like Low lag mode for a better gaming experience, high quality audio, personalized ANC and other features which we will see ahead.
Clear Voice Technology – The Ear 2 uses 3 mics and an AI noise reduction algorithm which helps during calls and to make the calling experience better. The Ear 2 comes has been bettered with the wind noise reduction feature to minimize the background noise when on calls. Also, there are noise samples fitted to the algorithm that reduces the background sounds and focus is more towards the user’s voice.
Sound Performance – Ear 2 is not only a well-designed and good-looking ear piece, but the sound quality is just perfect and better than most competitors. Ear 2 uses dual 11.6 mm custom drivers with enhanced bass, you would notice this even if you havent set the equalizer to the “more bass” setting. But it’s much better when you do that. Ear 2 was also created with a dual chamber design which definitely enhances the user’s audio experience. What dual chambers do is simply separate the bass on one chamber while the other mids & highs would land on the other. This creates a much better audio experience with reduced distortions and a better bass quality overall. No bass no fun. The Ear 2 is also Hi-Res Audio Certified, reproducing frequencies up to 24 bit/192 kHz. The minimum benchmark to achieve this certification for an earphone/headphone is to reproduce a frequency of at least 40kH, which the Ear 2 easily does. With LHDC 5.0 codec support, you could stream high quality audio over Bluetooth as well. The Personalized ANC feature lets you choose between three levels of Active Noise Cancellation (high, mid & low) up to 40 dB or you can go with the pre-set settings. With the adaptive mode you could take a test based on your surroundings by moving in a noisy environment and let Ear 2 adjust the noise cancellation levels for you. So, there’s a whole bunch of features you would play around with through the Nothing X app before you finally start using the ear 2.
Battery, Connectivity & Controls – Ear 2 promises 36 hours of music playback on a single 100% charge, of course ANC needs to be turned off for this. You could charge the ear 2 for up to 8 hours of music in 10 mins. Frankly I haven’t tested the charge time to perfection but on a single charge my device did give me a few days here and there. The usage wasn’t that heavy so I’m guessing the 30-36 hours without ANC would be achievable looking at the output I got. Ear 2 supports wireless charging and can reverse charge on compatible devices like the Phone (1). Ear 2 comes with a IP54 sweat and dust-resistance and no earbuds are truly waterproof so far, so don’t even try it. Ear 2 supports dual connection which is a welcome feature. You can be connected on a phone and a laptop for various purposes and it switches between devices seamlessly.
The transparent stem of the earbud sports the controls embedded which work great because you are not tapping onto your ear directly but the stem instead. There are multiple options which you can customize to decline calls, noise controls, skip forward or back. The only feature you can’t customize would be the pause and play and answer calls. You can use both the right or left earbud stem for these controls. Use the Nothing X app to set this up.
The Noting Ear 2 is available in the UAE market for AED 479 at Sharaf DG, Virgin Megastore, Noon, Eros, and Amazon.
Highs – Superior sound quality, design, handling, controls, customizations, personalized ANC & sound profile. Lows – Couldn’t find much. They make great stuff.
